


Technicolor

by midweekrobins



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Internet Friends, LDR, Language Barrier, Long Distance Relationship, M/M, Pen Pals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2014-01-30
Packaged: 2018-01-10 14:23:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1160718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midweekrobins/pseuds/midweekrobins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba hits it off a lot better than expected with his French penpal, Clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Technicolor

Aoba’s French teacher probably didn’t intend for the penpal project to turn out like this, but at least Aoba could say that he had certainly improved his language skills, if nothing else. The project was supposed to include two emails back and forth a week between the student and their penpal for a month, but Aoba had hit it off much better than expected with Clear. For the first week, they had started off with the required two emails back and forth, but by the second week, Clear was sending Aoba an email almost every day. Aoba wasn’t complaining because he did enjoy talking to Clear, but it was certain that Clear’s Japanese was a lot better than Aoba’s French, so he sometimes took longer to reply.  
Even after the month-long project had ended, they continued to talk. Emails proved inconvenient, so they switched to instant messaging. Time zones made things difficult, and Aoba often ended up staying up late to talk to his French friend, much to his disapproval.

**méduse:** aoba-san! isn’t it well passed your bed time???  
 **slyblue:** mmm, maybe. but i can skip first period tomorrow, it’s just gym.  
 **méduse:** incorrect!!! aoba-san, you had gym first period today, which means that first period tomorrow is french. surely you couldn’t be thinking of skipping your french class?????  
 **slyblue:** what if i just talk to you in french instead to make up for it? 

There was a pause. Aoba saw that Clear was typing something, then erased it. He grinned to himself, knowing that even though he wouldn’t admit it, Clear loved when they spoke in French instead of Japanese, despite that he was the one who insisted that he preferred to communicate in Aoba’s native language so that Aoba replied faster and didn’t associate talking to Clear with the mental stress of translating into a less familiar language.

**méduse:** i have an idea for a compromise!!  
 **slyblue:** okay?  
 **méduse:** simply communicating through text is not an acceptable substitute for learning a language in an educational environment, but it is much more hands-on, so to compromise we can speak the remainder of our conversation in french, and you may go in late to class, but not miss it all together!!!!  
 **méduse:** is that acceptable to you, aoba-san???  
 **slyblue:** i guess.

Of course, Clear would have no way of actually knowing for sure if Aoba actually went to class, but somehow Aoba had a feeling he would guess if he didn’t. They talked for about another half hour in French, and then said bonne nuit. This had been going on for three months now after the original month long project had ended. However, Aoba still got the feeling that Clear knew a lot more about him than he did about Clear. Which was pretty weird, he guessed, considering how much Clear liked to talk. Well, type. They hadn’t actually talked on the phone or video chatted or anything yet- Clear claimed to be self-conscious of his spoken Japanese, and Aoba didn’t push it, yet.

He thought it was odd how good Clear’s written Japanese was, and it was also peculiar how he knew what Aoba’s face looked like from when Aoba would send him pictures or something, but in any pictures Clear sent him, they weren’t of himself, or if they were, his face happened to be hidden. But Aoba didn’t want to press the issue too soon- it wasn’t like he thought Clear was some middle aged guy (despite the white hair that Aoba did notice) preying on high school boys, it was a school organized activity. Maybe he’d bring it up soon, and Clear would agree when he was ready. 

The next morning, he went in late to first period as promised but still went through the rest of his classes half asleep. Sleeping in 40 minutes this morning had helped, but it couldn’t replace the other four hours that he probably should have been sleeping earlier that night. Koujaku asked him what kept him up so late and Mizuki made fun of the bags under his eyes, but he almost didn’t notice. Surely they were used to it by now- this happened at least once a week.  
“Aoba, you really shouldn’t be staying up so late! Whatever you’re doing can’t be more important than your health,” Koujaku scolded.  
“I was... studying for French,” Aoba retorted. “School is a priority!”  
Mizuki and Koujaku snorted simultaneously. Both of them were infamous for constantly being close to getting kicked off their various sports teams due to bad grades.  
“No, but really, Aoba, I know you like talking to that French kid, but you need to sleep more!” Koujaku leaned in closer. “And if it’s something else that you need me to handle-”  
“As much as I appreciate the thought, I’m fine, really,” Aoba replied, a bit exasperated. Koujaku eyed him suspiciously until the bell rang and Mizuki dragged him along, winking at Aoba as they went. Both of them were so weird.  
Aoba got home and checked to see if Clear had left him any messages while he was at school but there was nothing. It wasn’t that unusual, sometimes Clear got busy in the mornings like Aoba always was. But he was still in school, so Aoba got started on his homework while he waited for him to log on.

It was nearly midnight, and still nothing from Clear. Although he felt a little silly, Aoba was starting to get a bit worried. Even if he couldn’t talk that night, Clear would always send him a message saying so beforehand. 

**slyblue:** hey clear, is everything ok? you haven’t been on all day and it’s getting late here.  
 **slyblue:** well, message me when you can.

Then Aoba started to get embarrassed for being clingy and decided to go to bed. Hopefully there’d be an explanation message from Clear waiting for him when he woke up. Maybe his internet was down, or he was getting his computer fixed? Maybe he was just busy all day. He could have gone out with friends of his own (not that he had mentioned anyone to Aoba.) Aoba left the chat window up and his computer volume on, thinking that maybe he’d hear the ding of a new message as he drifted off.

The next morning, there was still nothing. Aoba fought the urge to try sending Clear an email instead of just a message, but decided that he would wait until after school to do that. He was, after all, probably freaking out over nothing. Wait, he wasn’t freaking out though, was he? Of course not. He mentally smacked himself for being so over-attached and not even knowing it.  
When there were no new messages when he got home, Aoba started to wonder if something bad had happened, of maybe Clear had suddenly gotten sick of Aoba.  
To: clearsauveterre@yahoo.com  
From: seragakiaoba@aol.com  
Subject: Hey  
Hey clear i haven’t heard from you in a while and you aren’t responding to my messages, is everything okay? sorry if i’m bugging you, or you’re busy, but i hope you can respond soon to let me know what’s going on. unless there’s like, too much going on, in which case uh just get to me whenever you can, yeah!  
-Aoba

Aoba frowned at how awkward he sounded, and hoped again he wasn’t just being clingy- he’d never considered himself a clingy person. It was just very weird for Clear to suddenly stop responding. He was usually the one constantly hounding Aoba with messages and impatiently waiting for a reply. The more Aoba thought about it, the more worried he got.  
It continued like that for three more days, each of which was a huge mixture of emotions for Aoba, including stress, anxiety, anger, and worry. He was about to go looking for some other way to get in touch with Clear after a long day of internal conflict at school, but when he arrived home there was a message waiting for him.

**méduse:** hello, aoba-san! i’m sorry for not replying to your messages. the past few days have been very busy. i hope you’re doing well.

Aoba let out a huge sigh of relief. But the anxiety in his stomach was still there. Clear’s message was very formal and detached and extremely unlike his usual excitable typing style. His hands shook as he feverishly typed a reply.

**slyblue:** jesus clear i’ve been worried sick!  
 **slyblue:** how busy could you have been to not have even been able to send one message? it’s been like, four days!  
 **slyblue:** you could have like, died, or moved to like morocco and i’d have never have known.  
 **slyblue:** what’s been going on?? what had you so busy?

Aoba knew Clear was probably at school and wouldn’t be replying for a few hours, but that didn’t stop his hands from spewing embarrassingly worried messages. Suddenly, a notification popped up saying that Clear was online. Surprised, Aoba drummed his fingers on his lap, waiting for a reply.

**méduse:** ah, i’m sorry! i really didn’t think you would be so worried, though i am very grateful for your thoughts  
 **slyblue:** what does that even mean? what has been going on, clear??  
 **slyblue:** helloooo??  
 **slyblue:** also, why aren’t you at school?  
 **slyblue:** clear?  
 **méduse:** we were having some family problems, nothing for you to be concerned about, aoba-san!  
 **slyblue:** is that your way of telling me it’s none of my business?  
 **méduse:** eh? no, of course not!  
 **slyblue:** then why won’t you say why you were off for four days? tell me the reason, or tell me to butt out.  
 **slyblue:** i tell you a ton of my problems, but you never seem to have anything to complain about. i’ve told you all about my family, but all i know is that you live with your grandfather.  
 **slyblue:** it really seems like you’re just too nice to tell me that you don’t like talking to me.  
 **méduse:** please don’t think that, aoba-san  
 **méduse:** i’m very sorry for making you feel that way, i’m not good at talking about my personal problems and have always preferred to help you with yours when i can  
 **méduse:** i didn’t mean to make you worry while i was away  
 **slyblue:** clear, i want you to be able to talk to me about things. that’s what friends are for, right?  
 **méduse:** i suppose so... aoba-san is my friend, so he has a right to know about things going on in my life like i know about things in his...  
 **slyblue:** er, that’s not quite how it works, but it’s a start i guess.  
 **slyblue:** maybe we can begin with what happened while you were away?

Aoba half expected Clear to just log off, or not reply, or reply with some bullshit, but he kept typing, then backspacing, then typing, then backspacing. When he finally replied, Aoba read it and immediately felt like the world’s biggest asshole.

**méduse:** my grandfather passed away in his sleep a few nights ago, i have since been dealing with the aftermath and i couldn’t think of the right words to say to you. i hope you can forgive me, i really have been very busy.  
 **slyblue:** jesus christ clear  
 **slyblue:** i am so sorry  
 **slyblue:** i had no idea  
 **slyblue:** and i tried to make it all about me, i am such a dick holy shit  
 **slyblue:** are you okay? what about the rest of your family?  
 **méduse:** my family is just me and my grandfather, so i didn’t have to worry about inviting anyone to a funeral or anything of that sort...  
 **méduse:** but it did fall on me to take those things into my own hands, so i’ve had a lot to do...  
 **slyblue:** god, clear, if there’s anything i can do let me know asap  
 **slyblue:** i know there probably isn’t much, but anything i can do, ok?  
 **méduse:** thank you aoba-san, your support really does mean a lot to me!! just talking to you really has made me feel a lot better already!!  
 **slyblue:** clear  
 **méduse:** yes??  
 **slyblue:** you don’t have to pretend to be okay when you aren’t  
 **méduse:** right

The next few weeks passed by and Aoba was talking to Clear every second possible, now knowing that he didn’t really have anyone else he could talk to about this. He learned more about Clear than he had in the past four months combined: he was friendly with everyone in school but didn’t really have any friends. His grandfather had taken him in when he was younger, but Clear had no recollection of a time before he lived with his grandfather, even though he was around ten when he found him.  
It was sometimes difficult to make Clear really believe that he didn’t have to be happy all the time, that Aoba wouldn’t start to hate him as soon as he wasn’t cheerful. But Clear really was a cheerful person by nature, and eventually Aoba started to notice a return in his characteristic optimism. 

**méduse:** i know he wouldn’t want me to linger in my negative feelings, he would want me to move on and become a stronger person in the wake of a negative event!!  
 **slyblue:** absolutely!  
 **slyblue:** it’s okay to be sad and miss him, but you aren’t completely without family.  
 **slyblue:** we haven’t known each other very long, but you’ve become very important to me and i do consider you a part of my family.  
 **slyblue:** that’s really embarrassing to say, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, but i just want you to know you aren’t alone!  
 **méduse:** aoba-san!!!!!!!  
 **méduse:** i absolutely, definitely consider you my family as well!!!! it is an honor for you to say something like that!!!  
 **slyblue:** well, maybe we should do something a little bit different?  
 **méduse:** yes, yes, like what??  
 **slyblue:** how about a video call? i still don’t know what you look or sound like!  
 **slyblue:** clear?  
 **méduse:** i’m, not sure that is really a good idea, aoba-san!  
 **slyblue:** huh? how come?  
 **méduse:** ahh, it’s another one of those things that’s hard for me to say.....  
 **méduse:** i’m not very comfortable with showing my face to people!! even my classmates at school, i tend to wear a hygienic mask

Well, that does explain a lot, Aoba thought, but also raised a whole new set of questions. But he wanted to be accommodating so that Clear would be comfortable letting him further into his life.

**slyblue:** well, you can still video chat with the mask on, right?  
 **méduse:** eh?! is that really okay with you??  
 **slyblue:** haha i can’t promise that i’ll never push you to take it off, but baby steps for now, yeah?  
 **méduse:** alright, i suppose if it’s okay with aoba-san then it’s alright with me!!

Aoba, grinned, excited. Hopefully this would help take Clear’s mind off some of the awful things he’s been dealing with. His cursor hovered over the video call button nervously, and he wondered if Clear was doing the same. Finally he clicked the button, and the green light on his webcam flashed on as his image appeared on the screen. He felt a little self-conscious as he smiled a little and awkwardly waved.  
Soon after, Clear’s camera flickered on and Aoba saw a mess of white hair and a pale head with wide, pink eyes and a white mask covering most if his face. He was bouncing up and down a little like he didn’t realize he was doing it.  
“Hey, Clear,” Aoba said, and cleared his throat.  
“Hello, Aoba-san!” Clear exhaled, like he had been holding his breath for a while. He was sitting in a cluttered room where some morning daylight trickled through the tattered blinds on the window, whereas the sun was about to set where Aoba was. There were some seashells and a bunch of old glass bottles lining the shelves on the walls. Clear seemed to be waiting for him to say something.  
“You look and sound a bit different than I expected,” Aoba laughed. But Clear tensed up.  
“Really? Uh, how so, if I could ask? I can turn the camera off if you’d prefer!” His words came out worried and rushed.  
“What? No! I dunno, not different in a bad way... actually, different in a good way, because it’s the real way.” Aoba fiddled with his bangs and hoped he wasn’t blushing visibly. He heard Clear suck in a breath and watched him scratch the back of his neck.  
“Well, thank you, Aoba-san,” he laughed a little. “It’s really nice to be able to finally hear your voice as well!”  
Aoba crossed his arms. “Don’t say things like ‘finally,’ we could have done this plenty earlier if you weren’t stubborn!”  
He almost expected Clear to get defensive, but he just laughed again. This laugh was soft and a bit sad. “I guess so... my apologies, then!”  
Aoba sighed, but then let his face soften. “I really am glad to get to speak to you, Clear. I hope we can talk like this regularly instead of just over text.”  
Even though he was wearing the mask, Aoba could see Clear suddenly beaming. “I’m more than fine with that if it’s what Aoba-san wants!”  
He felt his stomach flutter at the almost-sight of Clear smiling. He wanted to make him smile like this as often as possible.


End file.
